Aston Villa dominant in quarter-finals with a 4-0 win.
Aston Villa needed to win at home against Bologna to make it to the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League.
And they were successful in their cause!
Villa returned to their home ground after a win away at Bologna last time out and got off to the most perfect start they could have imagined.
With a struggle at the start of the first half after the referee caused a lot of stop start which made it seem a bit all over the place.
Ollie Watkins scored the first goal in the 16th minute as he was assisted by Morgan Rodgers to extend the aggregate lead for the Claret and Blues. With this goal Watkins reached 100 goals and he became Villa’s top European goalscorer.
The first goal had 14 passes before it was passed to Watkins and went through 9 different players.
44 seconds after a penalty, Emi Buendía scored the second goal for Villa in the 26th minute from a throw in.
Image of the big screen within Villa park showing the VAR logo, translation to Italian on the screen aswell.
39th minute and the goal drought is over for Morgan Rodgers, after not scoring for 12 games he slips it through the defenders to claim the third goal of the match in only the first half.
As the second half began the 11 were missing the key players John McGinn, Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rodgers. Along with the midfield engine of Amadou Onana and Youri Tielemans to give them a rest before the next premier league game in three days' time.
Aston Villa experienced a slow start to the second half as they tried to extend the aggregate lead even more.
Villa had taken the foot off the pedal whilst still employing expert game management to keep Bologna at arms length. Comfortably keeping them at bay.
However at 89th minute Ezri Konsa performed a perfect swivel and turn from a corner finishing like a forward and not a defender like he is. Which gave Aston Villa a smooth sailing towards the semi-finals.
And at three seconds over the 90 minutes the final whistle blew with no extra time added.
The semi-finals on the 30th April 2026 will be the first all English semi-finals since 1973.
Aston Villa went into tonight’s home game with a two goal advantage and they left with a six, what was expected to be a really tight encounter turned out to be a one sided match. With Villa dominant in the first half and professional in the second, giving no space for Bologna to try and close the advantage down.
With the knowledge that Nottingham Forest won against Porto the semi-final of the UEFA Europa League will be all Premier League. The hopes for Aston Villa is that they keep their European power streak and don’t sink back into the rhythm they experience in the Premier League.
After the match Aston Villa Manager Unai Emery said: “Very happy, we enjoyed it here with the supporters. We extended the game plan we did there. We had a serious match. So, happy with how we are performing in this competition”